| b3gin th!5 p0st by typ|ng a few w0rd5 intO 13et sp3ak. leet 5p34k, as yOu may n0t knOw, !s an unn0ffic|a1 14ng|_|a63 u5ed 0n 7eh !ntern3t. 5!m|1ar tO n3t 1in60, but using numbers inst34d Of a88reviati0ns tO r3p1ace l3tter5.

I have trouble with that also.

This is how I feel reading broken English: frustrated. First thought is, “What the fuck is this?” I’m always surprised that people go to such length to replace “you” with “j00”. It’s not saving time. It’s not proving the person is “lazier”, because there’s still three letters typed.

I gaze over the section of words over and over. I read it to myself. Actually, I recite it. “4 you”. What the hell, four you? Is that some body part? Reading it again, I see the hidden language. Oh, for you. Gotcha.

I grew up on the Internet. But for one reason or another. I decided not to talk lik tis. Becuz I felt it degrad mi inteligence, n make me feel stup1d. So anyone that uses net lingo, especially leet speak, is a foreigner to me.

“WDYDT?” A new message opens. What the hell? The same letters repeat. Huh? I feel stupid for asking, but there’s no other choice. Everyone has their own system, so don’t follow this format. I form WDYDT from What Did you Do Today. I’d never use it, unless I included a cheat sheet to everyone I talk to.

I know how frustrating it is to encounter an alien language. I know how it feels to read something at first and not understand a single word. That’s me in Spanish class. I reread the text at least 3 times, and end up only understanding “Hoy es lunes.” Oh right, it is Monday. So what else is happening? There has to be more going on than knowing the day.

Learning from all of this, I try not to stress over someone’s grammar and/or accent. If the person writes “Don’t be waste paper”, I laugh. But I know what it means. “Don’t waste paper.” It’s automatically converted to understandable English. If the person has an accent, I have a hard time understanding sounds. But using my brain, logic, and knowledge of the English language, I piece together the words. I don’t laugh, point, and say “Learn better English”. Unless the person deserves an insult. I take that back, I do laugh mentally. But still, common courtesy of not laughing out loud.

What’s the point of mockery? I may excel in one simplistic language such as English, but suck in others. Although I’m a native of China, I speak Mandarin like a damn foreign tourist. But tourists don’t have a half-accent popping in and out during conversation. That half-accent is so irritating. Try feeling good after that.

It’s tough to learn a new language. Never mind develop an acceptable accent. Grammar can be fixed, but I believe that unless someone grew up around a certain language, there’ll always be problems with the dreadful accent.

Getting past the accent or poor grammar leads to an interesting person. Being an ass and uttering the words “Speak English” is the sign of a stupid man. Respect and courtesy comes first. I take this personally because hell, if someone can stand my stuttering introduction, I’ll live with their problems.

I target English only because it’s all too common to hear “Speak English, moron”.